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Geographically,
Sighisoara is located in the heart of Romania, at 24° 46'
40" eastern longitude and 46' 12' 38" northern latitude,
in the middle basin of the Târnava Mare River.
This natural amphitheatre, almost
entirely covered by woods, has a mild-continental climate. Its
ancient civilization evidences go back to the Stone Age. The
late Bronze Age (1700-1300 B.C.) is remarkable, it was the time
when the "Sighisoara-Wietenberg" archeological culture
took shape. Later, in the Dacian period, the valley of the Târnava
Mare became an important commercial road, controlled by a solid
fort built over the prehistoric settlement of the Wietenberg
Hill.
This citadel was destroyed during
the first years of the 2nd Christian century (106 A.C.), when
Dacia became a Roman province. In order to maintain the safety
of the roads that crossed the area on the left bank of the Târnava
River, the Roman army built a defense fort in the place known
today as "Podmoale". Although relatively short, the
Roman administration left behind an important romanised population,
whose evidence and settlements were discovered in the archeological
sites of "Dealul Viilor" and "Albesti-Valea Sapartocului".
As ages went by, the Hungarian
tribes gradually settled in Transylvania and, at the beginning
of the 12th century, arrived in the valley of Târnava
Mare, that, for a short time, would be a part of the southern
border of the Arpadian kingdom. This seems to be the reason
why they built a small border fort on the superior plateau of
the Cetatii Hill. At the same time, the Hungarian King Geza
the 2nd invited the inhabitants of the German areas to settle
in Hungary and Transylvania, where, in exchange of a large autonomy,
they were to help with the defense of the border and the prosperity
of the kingdom. According to the local custom and to the medieval
chronicles, the first Saxons settled in Sighisoara in 1191 or
1198.
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In
the first decades that followed their arrival, the small settlement
witnessed a quiet evolution, but the great Tartar-Mongolian
invasion of 1241 suddenly revealed the resources that turned
it into one of the "Seven Citadels" ("Sapte Cetati")
of the medieval Transylvania. And so, beginning with the second
half of the 13th century, Dealul Cetatii was surrounded by a
solid wall that, at the end of the Middle Ages, protected a
small town with over 160 houses and 13 public establishments.
The fort was strengthened and protected by 14 towers, among
them only 9 resisted in time, keeping to the present day the
name of the guilds they belonged to. The Clocktower, symbol
and pride of Sighisoara, catches the eye. Built in the 13th
- 14th century and initially named "The Great Tower of
the Gate" ("Turnul cel Mare al Portii"), it had
at the beginning of the 17th century a rudimentary clock, transformed
in 1648 in one that "had never existed before in Transylvania".
And in this way, apart from the fact that the new mechanism
was able to show the minutes and to strike the quarters of an
hour, it was also capable of setting in motion several wooden
figures, impersonating the pagan gods that represented the days
of the week: Diana, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and
the Sun. |
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The
leading military character of the town is obvious even from
the beginning, so obvious that it can be found in all the names
that the town has had even from the first documentary references:
Castrum Sex (1280), Schä2burg (1298), Segesvar (1301),
Sighisoara (1431). First mentioned as a town in 1367, "civitas
de Seguswar" shortly became a blossoming place for the
guilds, and in the following century its reputation grew that
much that in 1431 the Walah prince Vlad Dracu settled in the
"watch nest from Sighisoara". It was here where Vlad
Dracu led the defense of the south border of Transylvania since
1436, issued his own coin and prepared to take over the rule
of his home country. Traditionally, it is said that this remarkable
character lived in the "Vlad Dracu House" and that
this house was the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler. |
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In
1918, once Transylvania joined the Romanian kingdom, the Saxon
population was integrated in the new state and the number, the
political and economic role of the Romanians in the town grew
considerably. After 1950 Sighisoara developed as an industrial
center, but lost the status of administrative capital, becoming
district capital and then "only" the second town in
the Mures County.
The revolution of 1989 brought
along a new beginning for this town, Sighisoara being among
the first cities in Romania that declared themselves "free
of communism" even before president Ceausescu fled. But
coming back to normality was not, an is not an easy thing. Still,
after a few years of searching, the local economy and the social
life begin to shape up, being characterized by stability and
durability. Especially after 2000, the municipality emphasized
the importance of alternatives as far as lohn work is concerned,
encouraging especially the segment of services and cultural
tourism. An excellent proof in this respect is the fact that
Sighisoara benefited from the debates concerning the "Dracula
Park" project, debates that turned into an impressive advertising
capital, all these determining a significant increase in number
as far as tourists are concerned, and, consequently, an unprecedented
development of hotel services.
The massive investments in infrastructure,
in social and community services, in educational and sport utilities
- Sighisoara benefiting from one of the most modern sport hall
from Romania - marks the steps towards Sighisoara's integration
in the large European community, emphasized by the fact that
the town was granted "The Honour Plaquette of the European
Council". At the same time, the transformation of the CFR
railway station in a Eurostation and the intersection in Sighisoara
of the IV Paneuropean railroad with the Brasov-Bors highway
proves - as a medieval chronicle anticipated in the 16th century
- that "the jewel of Sighisoara will always shine and that
its glory will be eternal".
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